


Lethdor -- The Sword

by MaureenLycaon



Category: World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Legion - Fandom
Genre: Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23122807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaureenLycaon/pseuds/MaureenLycaon
Summary: When the Sword of Sargeras pierces Silithus, Lethdor has to take a look. It doesn't please him.





	Lethdor -- The Sword

**Author's Note:**

> (No mage-geologist could pass up an opportunity to examine the Sword of Sargeras, right?
> 
> Copyright disclaimer: the Warcraft universe and games belong to Blizzard Entertainment. Only the interpretation and these particular words belong to me, Maureen Lycaon. No copyright challenge intended.)

_From Lethdor's diary:_

I will not recount the cataclysmic event that took place with the defeat of the Dark Titan: the supernaturally thick, dark clouds that gathered over much of Azeroth and caused widespread panic, the fiery light that glowed through them, and the earthquake caused by the impact.

The Geological Society has long speculated on what would happen if a large bolide were to strike Azeroth. The Sword's descent was a good model for such an event, and many of our predictions were right on target: the object heating up as it descended until it glowed, the blast wave, the wave of fire, and the sound only arriving afterward.

It appears that no one in Silithus survived. All the firsthand reports come from observers in the nearby regions of Ungoro Crater and Feralas.

It is fortunate that Silithus is surrounded by high mountains.

A bright object of that size, approaching from space, is visible over much of a planet. Only as it approached Azeroth did the unnatural clouds and the curve of the planet conceal it. I am not sure if any witnesses caught a glimpse of Sargeras, or how they were affected by that sight. Mercifully, the cloud cover blocked the view for most observers.

Now reports have filtered in of a new mineral being found in the crater, one contains enormous, inactive energy of an unknown sort. It has been dubbed "azerite."

Needless to say, this aroused my curiosity as a mage-geologist. In the end, I could not resist paying a visit to the site. (There is no need to discuss the precise means by which I gained access.)

Nothing I had heard prepared me for the sight of Silithus. An enormous crater now fills most of it, and in the center is the Sword. The entire region is broken and cracked; in places, the magma underneath has emerged.

Despite this, I found an active mining operation already going on, conducted by goblins. High-level orcish commanders preside over a new Horde garrison nearby. Of all its personnel, only Pixni Rustbomb shared my scientific interest. Unfortunately, her interest tends to the silithids, the foul insect-kin based in Ahn-Qiraj.

Warchief Sylvanas has declared all azerite the property of the Horde. Nevertheless, I smuggled out some specimens, for the sake of Quel'Thelas and science. I obtained less than five pounds of azerite -- but that should be enough for laboratory testing and preliminary experiments, as well as sharing with other geologists.

The Sword itself is the most uncanny thing I have ever observed, and with my experience that counts for much. I took the risk of flying my dragonhawk up along its length for a closer look, and found myself thoroughly unnerved.

As one would expect, most of it is composed of metal, though not any metal known to Azeroth. However, its center seems to be half-living: I glimpsed ribs and vertebrae there, like the skeleton of any vertebrate. Bizarrely, they appear to be _moving_ steadily upward, as if they compose some sort of conveyor belt. I was unable to discern the purpose of these bizarre structures.

Periodically, the sound of small rockfalls broke the silence. I could not discern their location. It might merely be the Sword settling into the bedrock, or alternatively it might be the rock and soil and sand of Silithus settling after the massive disturbance of the impact.

Around the point of the Sword, flaring blue-white energy springs up. I could not determine the nature of this energy, but several goblin miners warned me not to get too close to it. According to them, it caused at least two deaths and some severe burns among them, before they learned to avoid it. (The azerite stones possess a similar energy, but in a compacted, inactive form.)

Most concerning of all is the red, corrupt energy flowing out from where an ordinary sword might have a jewel set into the hilt. This corruption flows in great gouts and curtains of red between the hilt and the pommel. I had to use great care and my flying skill to guide my mount and avoid these streams of corruption. Worst of all, some of it appears to be spilling outward, though I saw none of it visibly reach the ground. The corruption could well spread.

I write this in proper dry, detached scientific fashion, but that does not convey the atmosphere of the area or the feeling of being close to this colossal Titan artifact. Even the _sound_ of the energy flowing along the Sword's hilt was disturbing. It sounds like the susurration of wind, but it sparked a powerful, instinctive urge to get away from it. Still worse were faint rumbling, clanking sounds -- as if that bony conveyor belt inside were moving even this far up.

I could not abide being near it for very long, and soon retreated -- but not before I tried to gather a sample of the metal. But the moment my small chisel touched the metal, it shattered into pieces. The replacement I tried to use suffered the same fate. I decided to desist. Thus, I have no samples of the metal to analyze.

By this time, I was also developing a headache and feeling light-headed from the altitude. I guided my dragonhawk away and down.

I do not know the consequences of this disaster, but I fear they will be grave.


End file.
